SOS! Councilman Jamm is closing in on Lot 34 once again and this time, it’s because he gave out free Paunchburger samples to the planning committee. Ever the positive, determined one, Leslie’s not taking this lying down. She and Ben ditch their wedding registry and decide to hold a black tie gala to raise funds for the Pawnee Commons. What happens when Jamm tries to throw a wrench in their plans?

While the gang tries to organize the gala in just a few short hours, Andy takes the police academy entrance personality exam with April by his side for support.

Just as gala preparations begin, Leslie is called back to City Hall for an emergency response preparedness test. Soon, she realizes it’s more than just a test; it’s a complete simulation that will take hours. The gala is in eight hours and she’s stuck at City Hall. Luckily, the emergency they draw is “avian flu,” and Leslie already has a “Knope Protocol” binder ready to go. Strangely enough, soon Chris is “infected” because the person in charge of transportation forgot to shut down the buses. That person is none other than Jamm, who has a few other road blocks up his sleeves.

With Leslie gone, Ben is in charge of prep and sends Tom to find food vendors. Since Ben knows he’s kind of a mess on camera, he sends Ron to Pawnee Today to be interviewed by a hungover Joan Callamezzo. Soon, she’s passed out on the floor while Ron takes viewer calls and offers to talk about his interests, such as “woodworking, novels about tall ships, and meat.” While the gang tries to hold down the fort, Andy takes his personality exam and maybe it’s just nerves, but it looks like things aren’t going well at all.

At the emergency response simulation, Leslie is forced to deposit her cell phone and Chris “succumbs” to his “infection.” Leslie speaks to the examiner (Matt Walsh) who tells her it’ll be six to eight more hours and that it was Jamm who requested the simulation be held that specific day. It’s obvious that Jamm has, once again, tried to thwart her park plans, so Leslie has only one option: “destroy” the town. Before we know it, Pawnee is hit with a tornado-quake and Jamm is dead, along with everyone else in town. Sadly, Leslie failed the simulation but that’s the last thing she cares about at this point.

Once Leslie arrives at the gala, she can’t believe her eyes. Ben and company managed to pull everything off and it’s all absolutely perfect. Tom fixed their vendor problem by convincing all the fast food places in town to donate food in order to fight their competitor, Paunchburger, and Ron dominated on Pawnee Today.

During the gala, Chris stops to chat with the chief of police who tells him Andy failed the personality exam. The strange thing is, he got 100% on his written exam and he’s basically a genius. Chris smiles sadly and looks at Andy. Maybe Chris will take Andy under his wing? Ann tells the emergency response examiner that Leslie would have aced the simulation if the gala wasn’t going on that same day, and he agrees, telling her he’ll be back in a month. Hopefully we’ll get to see Pawnee vs. the Avian Flu Part 2?

With Mouserat performing on stage, Leslie tells Ben how impressed she is with the gala. She wishes they were getting married that night, and not in three months. He agrees and suggests they just get married tonight. Did they get married? You’ll have to watch next week, because this episode ended with a big ol’ TO BE CONTINUED…

What did you think of the episode? The emergency simulation reminded me of last season’s “The Treaty,” which was a stellar episode and remains one of my favourites, so I hope we see a redo with the whole gang in the future. Share your TwoCents below!